Toward performance dialogue in public administration: the case of city of Tampere

Public services are increasingly provided by networks of hybrid organization structures in which more than one public, private or nonprofit organization depends on another to perform a task. This structure adds ambiguity to... [ view full abstract ]

Public services are increasingly provided by networks of hybrid organization structures in which more than one public, private or nonprofit organization depends on another to perform a task. This structure adds ambiguity to public performance management, results in cultural tensions and, in many ways, challenges the ability of an individual manager to master the complexity of the operating environment. This paper sheds light on the change needed in performance management practices when a local government, a city in this case, aims to transform its management culture from an internally focused bureaucracy to an open and dialogue-based community in order to respond to the ongoing change in public management. The paper describes the case of the city of Tampere, Finland, and analyzes the evolution of the city’s performance management practices between 2010 and 2015. The results suggest that the future of public performance management should increasingly rely on continuous and iterative performance dialogue. The paper offers an approach for formalizing the dialogue.